Love at the Last Moment
by Lady Uruviel
Summary: Draco is at his breaking point. Can anyone give him the thing he wants most at his most crucial moment? Songfic. Lyrics are from Paramore's "Emergency". Rated T for language and mature themes.


**A/N: **thoughts/emphasis are _italicized_

lyrics are **bolded**

**I think we have an emergency... **

Draco looked below his feet, and all he saw was cool, glorious darkness. The moon was full, a brisk breeze blew. _Perfect conditions_, he mused. Steadying himself on the stone ledge, he allowed a tear to fall for his weakness; no one was here to see him cry. The one tear became five, ten, a river running down the alabaster cheeks...

_I wish I were stronger..._

The abuse he had inflicted upon him by his father's "friends" was simply horrendous. He was not the cookie-cutter image of evil that Lord Voldemort sought, so in order to form the unformed, violence had to be used.

**The scars they will not fade away...**

_I'm so weak..._

He cursed himself for not fighting back, for showing them all what he was and what he wouldn't- what he _refused_ to be. He cajoled himself for not running, for not escaping this hell. He couldn't leave his parents, he had to have Lucius' approval. He must be a good son, a boy worthy of the Malfoy name. Yet, all expectations are hard to live up to, Draco knew this now.

**It's really not your fault,**

**And no one cares to talk about it...**

_I can't do this anymore..._

Talking wouldn't help. He'd be percieved as weaker still, having to confess his troubles when he couldn't handle them himself. What would they think then?

He gulped down the midnight air...his last thought went to his mother...

**This is an emergency...so are you listening? **

{Harry's POV}

Platinum hair, blowing against the wind. That's all I saw, passing by the Astronomy tower. Peeking in through the door, I saw none other than Draco Malfoy standing on the window ledge. I don't think he was trying to get attention, he looked too troubled for that.

What would push him to do this?

Careful not to make too much noise, in case it would startle him and he would fall, I approached...

**I can't pretend that I don't see this...**

{Original POV}

"Don't do it," came a voice from the doorway.

Draco looked over his shoulder, his tears visible in the moonlight. "Don't try to help."

"Step off. You don't need to do this-"

"Like you care! You don't know..."

"No," Harry replied patiently. "But what I do know is that this isn't the answer. Step down."

"No," Draco whispered.

Harry could only watch in horror as he saw the slender body topple from the ledge.

**So you give up every chance you get  
Just to feel new again...**

{Draco's POV}

The air's roaring past my ears, ruffling my hair, carrying me to earth...it's the most I'd felt alive since I turned sixteen. Ironic, really- now I was going to die on this adrenaline.

He was the last person I wanted to see...he saw me in weakness once already...

I hope Mother doesn't cry too much...I know Father won't in public.

What's this...? Arms, one under my legs, one under my back...these must be an angel's arms.

I must be dead already.

{Original POV}

Slate grey eyes opened to find Harry Potter above them, trying to fly steady with an armful of Slytherin.

"Potter-" Draco choked.

"I told you not to jump."

"Is it your mission to save _everyone_ in life?" Draco said weakly.

"Just the ones I care about."

This silenced the blonde for a moment. Glancing below him, a flood of questions came through his mind.

"Summoning Charm," Harry said, seeming to know what Draco was thinking.

"Why didn't you let me fall?" Draco asked morosely.

"Didn't I just tell you?" Harry countered.

"That didn't prove anything!" Draco snapped.

"Oh yeah?" Harry tipped the broom into a downwards dive and Draco gripped Harry's sweater with both hands, terrified. Touching down onto the grounds, Harry set Draco down on the grass in a sitting position and knelt beside him.

"You don't want to die," Harry said quietly. _I won't allow that..._

"Yes I do! This is the only way out, don't you see that? This evil will never be gone, never!" Draco pounded the ground with his fist, his eyes filling again.

"I've never seen you give up so easily," Harry said after a while.

"I have no other choice."

"Yes, you do." Harry took Draco's hand carefully, wary that he would pull away. "You_ do_- Draco."

At the sound of his name being used so tenderly; in care, in _love_- Draco Malfoy broke, taking all his barriers with him. He let himself dissolve into tears again. He felt the Gryffindor lay his arm around his shoulders cautiously, and he leaned into the touch. He didn't care if it was Harry Potter that wanted to hold him, he just needed love.

**Cause I've seen love die way too many times  
When it deserved to be alive...  
I've seen you cry way too many times  
When you deserved to be alive...**

"Why do you care so much? We're rivals, I barely know you," the blonde inquired once he was calm.

"You don't need to know someone intensely to care for them. Besides, I've always felt sad when something beautiful has broken," Harry replied quietly.

A pair of lips that had never once recieved a kiss in love felt their first that night. Draco didn't care how much people would talk. Fuck the rumours and Death Eaters and social standing. He had someone who loved him now. It was all he needed to carry on.


End file.
